


Breaking the Surface

by chapscher



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Alternate Universe - The Little Mermaid, Cecaelias, M/M, cecaelia Earl, deep sea fish Cecil, marine biologist carlos
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-30
Updated: 2014-09-03
Packaged: 2018-02-11 01:15:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2047620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chapscher/pseuds/chapscher
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Night Vale Mermaid!AU. Cecil risks approaching the humans to help save his wounded lover, but must pay an impressive price.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Meveret](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Meveret/gifts).



“A friendly oceanic community where the sun is distant, the moon is shimmering, and mysterious lights pass below us as we all pretend to sleep. Welcome to Night Vale.”

Carlos stopped the recording, eyes wide as they darted from the computer to the recording equipment to his coffee. He had set up the equipment to monitor the calls of marine mammals, but fell asleep in the boat he was recording from. The calls of the whales he was listening to had drifted off, for the first time in Carlos’ study leaving the microphone behind. About a half-hour later, a low male voice spoke into the deep background hum of the ocean.

He pressed rewind and listened again. “A friendly oceanic community…”

It was clearly a prank of some sort. But he had never in his life heard that voice before and would have remembered if he did. It was lulling and undeniably handsome. He continued to listen.

“The City Council announces the opening of a new Coral Reef at the corner of Walsh and Steinbeck, near the Ralph’s. They would like to remind everyone that coral is not allowed in the Coral Reef. Merfolk and cecaelias are not allowed in the Coral Reef.

“It is possible you will see Hooded Figures in the Coral Reef. Do not approach them. Do not approach the Coral Reef.”

Carlos looked to the door of his university office for only a moment before locking it and putting on his headphones. The voice continued-low and soothingly narrating the odd events of the strange and unknown city. It obviously was some kind of hoax, but he couldn’t decipher from whom. So, as any scientist would do when confronted with such strange information, Carlos took long and detailed notes in his worn and stained scrap notebook. He doubted it would happen again, but he planned to return to the coordinates as soon as his research allowed him. Despite the impossibility… no… improbability of it, Carlos knew he needed to hear that voice again and find the man who had spoken so sweetly to him while he slept.


	2. Chapter 2

The black squid were from the world government. The blue squid? Those were from the Sherriff’s Secret Police and were only there to look after us. There were also the squid that flashed images of 16th Century boats sinking. Nobody knows what those squids do, but they seemed mostly harmless. And for as long as Cecil could remember – that was all there had been. But a few weeks ago yellow squid, each with a giant orange “S” carved into their sides, had arrived. Nobody knew where they came from, but their new presence drifting over the underwater city was, at best, unsettling.

It was dark and the squids all had begun to disperse as the Night Valeians turned in for the evening. Cecil had already swam out of the radio station and was waiting outside the scout lodge on the edge of town. He looked himself over and began preening the feathery, black fins that adorned his long tail. His bonelike fingers brushed against the bioluminescent marks that swirled around his body. Aside from his tail, Cecil’s white hair and body were pale from the years of living in dark caverns and rarely rising to a point where the distant reflections of the sun could touch his body. The Sheriff’s Secret Police and World governments had made it clear that anyone who even approached the surface would be arrested and promptly scheduled for reeducation. So Cecil, living in the very reasonable fear of The Dark Box and The City Council, had never known anything outside the warm ocean water.

But this was soon going to change.

The door to the scout lodge opened and several young boys rushed out, flaunting decorated sashes at each other and chasing the unfortunate fish that tried to swim past unnoticed. Cecil smiled to himself, remembering the years he had spent as a scout and the dangers he had faced while earning the rarest of badges with his childhood best friend. They were fond memories that he reflected on whenever he saw any of the brave young men on the streets of Night Vale.

A few moments later, Earl swam out, holding the hand of a very young boy, who moved to clutch onto Earl’s waist and tentacles when he saw Cecil.

“Do you see her?” Earl asked gently, adjusting the boy’s neckerchief as they looked over to a small group of parents who chatted amongst themselves as they waited for their sons.

The boy hiccupped and rubbed his swollen eyes for a moment. He began to shake his head when a woman in the crowd of parents smiled and waved over at him. He grinned widely and hugged Earl’s tentacles one last time before darting into the group of parents and to his mother’s side.

“Will he be alright?” Cecil asked as Earl settled down beside him.

“He’s fine. Young. Not used to being away from her for so long.”

Cecil smiled warmly as a few of Earl’s tentacles gently brushed against the back of his tail. Unlike Cecil, he was a cecaelia, his eight handsome tentacles all scarred from his years of being a scout. The leather shoulder holster for Earl’s dagger brushed against Cecil’s arm gently in a silent and affectionate welcome.

“Are we ready?” Cecil whispered excitedly.

“Gods, Cece, let me lock up and rest for a moment. I’ve already risked my neck plenty of times today and would like a breath before I do it again.”

“I’ve been thinking about it all week,” Cecil said, his massive eyes somehow getting even wider as he spoke. “Besides, I put complete faith in my brave _brave_ Earl.”

“Sweet Cecil, you know that the parents don’t like you clinging onto me in front of their kids.” He gently pulled away from Cecil’s affectionate pawing. “And there would be plenty of time for that once we get where I’m taking you.”

Cecil gasped excitedly, running his hands over Earl’s tentacles as the cecaelia turned to lock the door to the scout lodge. Cecil’s hand lingered a little longer on Earl’s third tentacle, slowly stroking his way down to the tip before Earl jerked it out of Cecil’s grasp. He grinned as he watched a blush cover Earl’s shoulders and his tentacles change colors.

“Are you going to use it on me?” Cecil hummed, reclining coquettishly against the lodge door.

“Cecil, stop it,” Earl scolded before whispering. “Anything you want, Cece. But not that one. Well… probably not that one.”

“‘Probably not’ means ‘perhaps yes.’”

“True, but don’t count on it. As much as I want to… you know how much it takes out of me.”

“But you have no idea what it’s like to see you when you do,” Cecil said, eying Earl up. “The way you blush and moan. So passionate. So helpless.”

“If you dare get stiff in front of my troop, I swear, Cece, I’ll never forgive you.”

“I’ll keep it behind the scales for now. But it’s not easy.”

Earl’s tentacles turned several fascinating colors before he swam off, Cecil following him closely. They cut through the city, past the Coral Reef and City Hall and over to the city developments and the barista district. Although they had both lived in the city their entire lives, Cecil felt safer as he stayed by Earl’s side as they went past the streamed milk smell and acoustic guitars of the godforsaken part of town. Eventually, they reached the cliff that marked the city limits.

“Alright,” Earl said, a hint of nervousness in his voice. “It’s up.”

“Earl, I’ve never been to the surface, but I certainly hope that I have an idea of where it is.”

“No, I mean that you need to look out for squids now.”

“Oh.”

“Get behind me and I’ll keep you safe. We’ll be ducking into the cavern. So as soon as we get there, go in and stay a tentacle’s reach away until I follow. We’ll probably go in together, but in case we don’t…”

Cecil’s large, white eyes seemed to light up as he pulled Earl close to him. “Brave Earl,” he crooned before leaning in and kissing him deeply. He squirmed his tail into Earl’s mass of tentacles, complicating and tangling their embrace. Their bodies sank down into the sand as they held each other. Earl generally wasn’t this explicit with his affections, but when he was it was exhilarating.

“Up,” Earl whispered, breathlessly pulling away and righting himself. “The longer we stay here the more we’ll draw suspicion.”

“Of course.”

The two began to travel along the side of the cliff, listening carefully to the deep groans of the squid in the distance. Cecil’s heart began to race. He had never done anything this scandalous – not even when he was a scout. If he was caught and station management heard… he had no idea what they would do to him. But this was something he and Earl had always wanted to do. The two would often whisper this scenario to each other as they stroked and rhythmically penetrated each other.

The opening was only about thirty meters away when Earl suddenly stopped, gripping on Cecil’s arm. A patch of dark water suddenly shimmered into the shape of a colossal yellow squid. As he put himself between Cecil and the beast, Earl drew the dagger from the holster and curled his tentacles, ready to charge.

Cecil carefully ascended, keeping a hand on the cliff face as he watched Earl below him. The massive eyes of the squid looked up and locked with Cecil’s, unnaturally long tentacles maneuvering towards him. Earl bolted upwards and sliced along the length of one with his dagger. There was a low cry that vibrated through the water as the squid swung wildly at Earl.

“Cecil, go!”

Cecil wasted no time obeying Earl’s command and quickly found himself at the entrance to the cavern. As Cecil looked down to the fight below him, Earl’s form disappeared into the billowing clouds of blood and ink. There were no other squid he could see in the distance and, hopefully, this would be all. As badly as he wanted to take up a sharp rock from inside the cavern and attack the squid, he remembered what Earl had told him and began to back into the deep cave. He glanced out one more time before letting Earl out of his sight.

It had seemed longer than it was by the time Earl joined him in the cavern. Cecil’s bioluminescent marks had cast his small hiding spot in a soft purple glow. He looked up as Earl put a hand on his shoulder and gently guided him off the floor.

“Earl, you’re bleeding.”

“I’m what? Oh,” he looked down at the cuts on his hand. “Yeah, I just nicked myself.”

“Let me see.”

Earl held out his hand to Cecil, who cradled it lovingly and kissed the wound a few times. He gently pulled Cecil along.

“Come on. It’s not that much farther now,” Earl said as Cecil cast out light to guide them. “I hope it lives up to your expectations.”

Cecil’s ears popped as they swam higher than he had ever been before. Fingers brushed against the muscles that clung to the stalagmites of the flooded cavern. It was quiet; untouched by the city far below them.

Looking up, he saw ripples across a strange glasslike surface. Earl put his hand on the small of Cecil’s back as they were just a few feet from the air. Curiously, Cecil reached up, his fingers breaking the surface tension of the water and reaching into the cool cave air. Ripples surrounded him like dozens of snug, cold rings. He drew his hand back, staring at the disturbed surface.

“How does it feel?”

“Strange. It’s difficult to describe.”

Earl reached his hand through the surface, for the first time feeling water fall from his fingertips in droplets. Inching closer to the surface, his entire arm rose out of the water.

“Does it hurt?”

“No. Hold on, I’m going to try something.”

Tentacles wrapping around Cecil’s waist, Earl levered himself up and lifted his head out of the water. Cecil gently took Earl’s hand, watching him curiously.

Earl slipped back under the water, grinning. “You can breathe up there. Even see. You’ll like it.”

Cecil poked his head out of the water, his white hair hanging over his face. Earl smiled and brushed it out of his eyes. Finally able to look around, Cecil squinted into the dim light of the cavern. Earl smiled and kissed Cecil on the cheek.

“This is amazing. Weird. Is hair supposed to do this?”

“I don’t know. I think so.”

The cave was large and curved to an opening around a distant corner. Moonlight reflected off the walls of the cave and glistened on the water that dripped from the stalactites. They were alone, except perhaps for the stray hermit crab hiding away in the shadows.

Cecil approached the dry rock, touching it and watching his hand leave wet marks and small puddles. He put both hands on the rock and lifted himself up.

“Cecil, what are you doing?”

“Getting out. I don’t know if we’ll ever be able to again.” He hoisted himself onto the cave’s floor, only his tail lingering in the water. “You can get me back in, can’t you?”

“Well, yeah.” Earl followed him up, shivering in the cool, dry air. “This is… interesting.” He put his arm around Cecil, drawing him close and kissing his neck.

Cecil smirked and brought his tail out of the water. “So… we were talking earlier about… perhaps…”

“Cece…”

Cecil leaned back, fingers brushing aside his scales to reveal his steadily stiffening cock. Earl’s fingertips followed Cecil’s hand, looking up to watch Cecil lull his head back and moan. Hand rubbing Cecil’s prick, Earl’s tentacles wrapped around Cecil’s tail and arms, leaving little red circular marks along pale skin.

“Oh Earl,” Cecil groaned, biting his lip as the bioluminescent markings danced across his skin. “My brave Earl. You’ll protect me from the humans, won’t you?”

“No humans are going to be in here,” Earl murmured, leaning in and kissing Cecil. A slick tentacle gently prodded at the small entrance right under Cecil’s cock and the tip pressed in. Cecil groaned loudly. “And nobody is going to interrupt us.”

Cecil gripped Earl’s third tentacle, squeezing it gently before bringing it to his mouth and licking along the length. A hot and desperate moan echoed in the cavern as Earl threw back his head and his many tentacles tightened their grasp on Cecil.

“Fuck me with this one,” Cecil begged against Earl’s sensitive flesh. “I love to hear you.”

“Sweet Cecil, you know how much that takes out of me,” Earl panted, watching as his lover sucked and nipped on the tentacle. “Cecaelias have died after using it because they couldn’t protect themselves.”

“You used it before.”

“I was a lot younger then.”

“Put it in me while I fuck you.” Cecil teased Earl, wet suckers leaving marks on his lower lip. “Let your other tentacles do whatever they want to me.”

Earl hesitated for only a moment before taking his other tentacle out of Cecil and lining himself up over his lover’s stiff cock. In the center of his tentacles was a tight entrance, which Cecil reached down to gently loosen. Earl’s third tentacle gently caressed along Cecil’s chest and stomach as the others coiled tightly around his tail and wrists.

Slowly, Earl impaled himself on Cecil, groaning as he felt him slide in inch by inch. Earl panted as he lowered himself until Cecil was buried up to the hilt inside of him. Cecil’s body lay against the hard ground, his back arching as the suckers of Earl’s tentacles toyed with his nipples. He watched as Earl slowly began to ride him, pinning him down as a wet, thick appendage slipped into his mouth.

Blush sweeping over Earl’s shoulders, he slid his third tentacle against Cecil’s stiff prick and trailed down to his entrance. He pressed in, body straining against Cecil’s tail as he struggled below. The two moaned at the sensation of being filled and surrounded at the same time. Earl’s tentacles aimlessly wandered along Cecil’s back before he leaned down and gave him a bruising kiss.

The two groaned and panted, their moans echoing in the cavern and punctuated by the rhythm of Cecil’s fins striking the rock as he struggled in Earl’s powerful grip. Cecil was aching with desire as Earl kept pressing and coiling more of his third tentacle into him. It was more than he could handle and his bioluminescent markings began to shift across his body in waves and change colors. But he was completely entranced by Earl’s moans, which were more wanton and passionate than he had heard in a long time.

“Close,” Cecil groaned. “Earl, I’m so close.”

“Masters of us all, I want to feel you come in me.”

Cecil’s moan was muffled by a thick tentacle stuffed in his mouth as he let his control slip away. Earl gasped in pleasure, his third tentacle writhing inside his lover’s core. His grip around Cecil’s body tightened and Earl followed, coming hard inside of him. Earl gasped in pleasure as he rode Cecil through his own powerful orgasm, their come spilling out from between their bodies and along the sides of Cecil’s tail.

 

“Fuck, Earl,” Cecil groaned once the tentacle slipped out of his mouth. “Fuck. Why aren’t you like this more often? Earl…” He bit as his drying lips and gasped as he tried to get his breath back under him. “I… I think we should go back in the water.”

“Give me a moment, Cece.”

Earl’s tentacles loosened their grip as he lazily pulled out of Cecil’s spent entrance. For the first time, Cecil was able to feel Earl’s full weight on top of him without the buoyancy of the water. He gripped the rocks at the water’s edge and dragged the two of them back in, scraping his back against the hard ground. The two of them fell into the water and breathed heavily in relief. Earl sank to the bottom with Cecil’s arms still wrapped around him.

“Are you alright?”

“I’ll be fine,” Earl said, gently running his fingers through Cecil’s hair. “It’ll just take a while.”

“We can stay here.”

“No we can’t, Cecil. The Secret Police already know that we’re not home. It won’t be too long before they discover we left town. We need to head back down right now.”

“But you can barely move.”

“Yeah, I know. Just…” Earl righted himself, visibly straining not to fall back into the cold sand. “We need to get out of here.”

Cecil glanced one last time to the surface of the water before taking Earl’s arm and leading him through the caverns once again. Supporting most of Earl’s weight, Cecil felt the strain on his tail and was actually looking forward to landing into the heart of the barista district. But hopefully they would be home soon so he could wrap Earl in a bed of seaweed and let him fall into a deep sleep to recover.

They reached the entrance to the cavern and looked down onto the city, sitting on the edge and hand in hand. Earl gave Cecil a quick peck on the cheek before he pushed himself off the cliff face and slowly began to sink to the bottom, his tentacles furled out around him. Cecil followed closely, keeping watch and hoping that nobody could see them as they drifted down to the sand below.

“Cecil,” Earl said, grabbing his wrist. “There it is again. That yellow squid.”

“Give me the knife and I’ll-”

“No. It’s the same one we encountered earlier. It should be pretty weak. I’ll scare it off. You just go ahead.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

Cecil moved down along the cliff, glancing back up as the squid approached Earl again. Earl flashed his knife, but the squid didn’t back down. The squid’s tentacles reached out for Earl, who sliced at them and backed away. The water began to turn red again, and Cecil smiled, remembering all the times Earl had stood up for him against krakens and shrouded figures while they were scouts together.

He neared the bottom and looked up again. The red was still there, now mixing with a cloud of black and purple ink. A glint of silver caught his eye as it fell from the cloud. It was Earl’s knife. He swam back up and caught it – part of the blade broken off.

There was a groan in the sea of something massive and close. Cecil ducked against the cliff and watched in complete stillness.

A shark that had been attracted by the growing cloud of blood.

He watched as the great fish tore into the fray.


	3. Chapter 3

The lost tentacles would grow back. His severed arm would not. As soon as Cecil had finished at the radio station for the night, he went directly to the hospital. The doctors were reluctant to do much more than stabilize Earl and wrap him in bandages. Earl had told Cecil that the doctors didn’t tell him why they were being so negligent, but it was clear that the scout knew more than he was letting on.

When Cecil neared Earl’s room, he saw several members of the city council standing in the doorway. He averted his eyes as the looming figures turned and went down the hall – chilled currents forming in their wake. The water surrounding him seemed to hum as he entered the hospital room. Earl lay on the bed, his tentacles heavily bandaged and the torn scrap of bone and muscle left of his arm was wrapped in gauze.

“What was that all about?” Cecil said, approaching him and kissing Earl’s hair. “What were they doing here?” He stopped. “Earl? Are you crying?”

“Hmm? No. No, I… um…” Earl hesitated, shaking his head before kissing Cecil. “Hi.”

“What were they here for?” Earl stayed silent, not letting go of Cecil’s hand. “Earl?”

“How was your day?”

“Earl, you just lost an arm and the doctors aren’t stitching you back up. It’s been four days. What’s going on?”

Earl pulled Cecil down into the bed with him, drawing him close with his remaining tentacles. His hand toyed with soft strands of white hair. “I don’t talk much about my initiation to scoutmaster.”

“You don’t.”

“Well,” he continued, tentacles gently caressing along Cecil’s tail. “There’s this oath I took. And along with promises to bloodstones and the beams and all that… there’s this line. I swear that… if I’m ever injured to the point where I could no longer perform my duties as scoutmaster that I am to live with… well ‘live’ with… most likely die with my injuries.”

“So that’s why they’re not…”

“And unless I could find a prosthetic or something to adequately replace my arm,” he breathed, kissing Cecil’s hand. “I probably won’t last too much longer. The infection’s already begun to spread.”

“Why didn’t you tell me this sooner?”

“I didn’t want to worry you,” he said. “And we were waiting for the final word from the city council. I was thinking… hoping… that my years of service would grant an exception but...”

Cecil gently traced his fingertips along the stump of Earl’s severed arm. Patches of his pale skin had turned shades of gray and were flecked with black sores that traveled up his shoulder. He hadn’t seen it before. Or else Earl had hidden it from him. He buried his face against Earl’s neck.

“I didn’t want to worry you,” Earl repeated.

“You should have.”

“The technology for an adequate prostatic just does not exist in Night Vale. I’ve been calling any place skilled in both carpentry and black magic and there’s nothing.”

“I’ll find something. I’ll… I’ll go to Desert Bluffs. Maybe they have someone there who will help you.”

“Desert Bluffs? Are you sure?”

“Of course I’m sure. It’s…” he hesitated, sitting up. “It’s my fault this happened to you in the first place.”

“I don’t blame you.”

“Brave Earl.” Cecil leaned in and kissed his cheek. “Let me help you. I… I’ll go to Desert Bluffs right away and be back before midnight to tell you what progress I’ve made.”

Earl smiled, his tentacles loosening their grip on Cecil’s tail. “Thank you.”

 

 

 

Desert Bluffs was across a vast and flat plane of empty sand. There were no fish and no plants between the ground and blinding and fractured light of a perpetual midday sun broken on the water’s surface. Cecil could feel the light burn his skin and the sensitive bioluminescent patches that decorated his body, but, with Night Vale lost to the distance, he didn’t falter as he approached the strange and alien city.

Instead of the coral brick buildings of Night Vale, Desert Bluffs was built from the towering wreckages of ocean liners and oil ships. The giant metal structures stood like ungodly kelp forests overhead as Cecil ducked into their shade.

The walls and sidewalks of the city were flecked in blood with chunks of meat and hair floating at odd points in the warm waters. He tried not to look at them as he continued to explore without finding anyone on the streets or even any lights in the towering buildings.

Eventually, he came to the largest of the city’s structures – a building that looked like it touched the water’s surface. Black and red smoke billowed from pipes sticking at odd angles from the walls and there was the muffled sound of machinery from inside. The building was marked with a giant orange and yellow “S” and, faintly against the blinding light of the afternoon, Cecil could see yellow squids slowly drifting overhead. He pulled on the massive wooden doors and wandered in.

There were a few merfolk inside, all decorated with brightly colored tails and long fins that branched from their arms. Each of them grinned widely at him, flashing rows of brilliantly white, pointed teeth. They would be beautiful if it weren’t for the bloody and dark pits where their eyes should be.

Cecil quietly ducked past them, approaching a large door labeled “Department of Citizen Corrections.” He hesitantly nudged open the door, expecting to be immediately apprehended by the Sheriff’s Secret Police, but nobody approached him at all. Nobody was there. Nothing was there except for more doors. “Department of Individual Correction” opened to “Department of Bodily Correction” opened to “Correction of Body Inadequacy.” But all these empty rooms had another door he didn’t approach labeled simply “Strexcorp Synernists Incorperated.”

At a loss of what to do, Cecil nudged open this door. The room was long and tall, lit by windows lining the far wall from floor to ceiling. Standing before these windows was a single, massive desk.

“Night Valeian,” said a male voice. “We were wondering when you would arrive.”

Cecil neared the desk, the door slowly closing behind him. “Do you know me?”

“I know you’re the ‘Voice’ of your city. I also know that you and… someone else had cost us one of our surveillance squids. And I know that that someone else is hurt.” A figure emerged from behind the tall desk and looked down at him. “What were you doing on the surface, Cecil Palmer?”

“I… We were curious. We didn’t mean any ha-”

“Don’t worry, Cecil Palmer. Desert Bluffs has found no reason to outlaw visits to the air. So long as these visits are, after all, _productive_.”

Cecil glanced back at the door before approaching the figure. “I need help. It’s my friend, the ‘someone else,’ he’s hurt. Badly. If he doesn’t have a functioning prosthetic arm, he’ll die. He’s a scoutmaster and he made these vows and…” Cecil trailed off. “I’ll pay whatever I can if it means he survives.”

He could see the figure clearly now. The man had thick black hair and a handsome face. He smiled, but not as widely as those in the lobby of the building. His tail was orange and branded with the same “S” that marked the squids and the buildings of the city. He had eyes, unlike the others in the city that Cecil had seen, but they were completely black and expressionless. Like a doll’s eyes.

“Whatever you can?” the man echoed.

“Yes.”

He slowly settled down in front of Cecil, looking him over carefully. “Do you know who you’re speaking with?”

Cecil looked away. “No.”

“I am the CEO of Strexcorp Synernists Incorperated. I was born with 632 million dollars to my name. I am a scientist. I am Diego and your life’s earnings roll into my company every time I sneeze. Do you think that paying ‘whatever you can’ is going to impress me in the slightest?”

“Oh… no.”

“But it’s not like you _don’t_ have anything of value to me.” Diego said. “In fact, what you did to my surveillance squid can be forgiven if you help me with a little project of mine. We might end up helping your friend.”

“What do you need?”

Diego smiled, a slight crinkle appearing along the corners of his obsidian eyes. “That’s what I like to hear.

“Cecil, we’ve been having a bit of a… recruitment problem. Basically, we need more scientists to test and expand our business, but Desert Bluffs is experiencing a bit of a shortage. What I need is a human scientist who can work for us. Now, our Amphibious Researcher project has… not been as fruitful as we had hoped. Lots of dead, floating marine biologists.

“What we need is someone who will find us a human and have them run a couple tests on a few devices we’ve been developing. See how… efficient everything is. Understand? And if you do this for us, we’ll take in your friend and fix him so he works properly again. We don’t bother with these prosthetics, Mr. Palmer. We fix people.”

Cecil looked away, wanting to object until he remembered the sores that grew and crept along Earl’s body. He opened his mouth to speak, but stopped when the door behind him suddenly burst open.

“Diego?” A voice chirped from the door.

There was a rush of cold water as someone entered. Someone with hair and a face like Cecil’s swam to Diego’s side. His bloodstained tail swirled and brushed against the CEO. He glanced over his shoulder at Cecil and paused.

“Oh, hello,” he crooned before leaning in towards Cecil. “Who are you? You look just like me.” He paused before grinning wider than anyone should be capable of and turning to throw his arms around Diego. “Oh! Did you build me a new friend?”

Diego smiled and gently ran his fingertips along the other’s back. “Kevin, this is Cecil. He’s… he’s from Night Vale and he’s going to be helping us with our little scientist problem. He’s a radio voice too.”

“Oh. Why, hello Cecil.”

Cecil backed up slightly, hesitating before shaking Kevin’s hand.

“We were just about to discuss the form of payment.”

Kevin squeaked. “Oh! That’s always the most exciting part!”

“And I know how much you love to watch, but this is a private and official matter.”

“I understand,” he said. The empty and eyeless sockets seemed to look away, dejected.

Diego pulled the bloodied and eyeless monster in close and gently placed a kiss on his forehead before leading him to the door. Cecil waited in the middle of the room. He watched silently as Diego rested a hand on Kevin’s waist and whispered to him. Although Cecil could not hear, he couldn’t stop the tide of unease that washed over him with the growing intensity of Kevin’s smile. There was a soft kiss before Kevin slipped out and the door clicked shut.

“I need a final answer on my offer, Mr. Palmer.”

“I’ll help you,” he said, his eyes settling on Diego’s. “If it means Earl will live, I’ll help you.”

Diego reached behind his desk and pulled out a long scroll. “The spell to turn you human will not be difficult. You must walk on land, find a scientist, and bring them in a boat over Desert Bluffs. We’ll take care of things from there. Now, you have three days. If you return with a scientist by then, you’ll turn back into the fish monster you always have been, Earl’s arm will be fixed, and you may return to your backwards city. If you do _don’t_ return by then, you will turn back into the fish monster you always have been and you will belong to Strexcorp Synernists Incorporated. Oh, and Earl will probably die or something.”

“I understand.”

“Oh, he understands. Good. Good. Now, this procedure does not cost you any money. It costs…” Diego paused and smiled. “It costs other things.”

“Like what?”

“Your voice.”

Cecil backed away. “My voice?”

“Just as collateral, understand?” Diego rolled up the scroll and approached Cecil. “While you’re human, you will not be able to talk or chant or anything. Of course, when you return, we can put you voice right back in. So don’t worry.”

“But how can I persuade a scientist to come here if I can’t talk?”

“You’ll find a way. I’m sure,” hummed the CEO as he unfurled the document and pulled out a long, thin knife. “Do we have a deal?”

Cecil gently touched his throat with the tip of his fingertips. If he wanted to do this, there was no time now to do his own research. He had to just have faith in whatever Diego told him. He nodded and took the pen offered to him. It was heavy, like it was made out of solid gold. He was about to sign his name when he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his hand. He let go of the pen and looked down. There was blood. Tiny pinpricks in the shape of a triangle and an “S” marked his palm and formed a slow fog of blood.

The pen itself didn’t sink to the floor, but floated in place for a moment before setting itself to the paper. As if Cecil himself was holding it, his name was written in thick red fluid at the bottom of the long document.

Diego rolled up the scroll and set it aside before brandishing the knife.

“This part doesn’t hurt, does it?” Cecil asked, cradling his bloody hand.

“Huh? Oh, this hurts a lot. But not nearly as much as the next bit.”

“What?”

“I suggest you start swimming up as soon as your voice is out. I’ll even open the window for you.” Diego paused for a moment and chuckled. “You see, humans _can_ survive underwater… just not for very long.”

Cecil opened his mouth to speak, but before any sound could come out, Diego swiped the blade across Cecil’s neck. There was a flash of blinding golden light for just an instant before he saw a small, glowing black orb fly from his throat across the room. Cecil wanted to cry out, but he couldn’t. He reached desperately for the orb, feeling an unmanageable urge to swallow it, but Diego seized it first and locked it into a small cage before opening the window.

“Go, go!” he shouted, gripping tightly to the cage.

Cecil reached for the orb again, but stopped as he felt an acute pain at the base of his tail. It was almost like someone had taken a dull knife and was hacking him in two. He glanced at Diego one last time before darting out the window and up towards the overwhelming and shimmering light of the surface.


End file.
